


Thoroughbred Lines

by foxinsocksinabox



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Gen, akashi has a scary smile, all of the miragen plus horses, midorima is long-suffering, team-building exercises ftw!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-02
Updated: 2013-05-02
Packaged: 2017-12-10 05:16:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/782245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxinsocksinabox/pseuds/foxinsocksinabox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You want us to <i>ride</i> those things?!”</p>
<p>In which Midorima must set a good example.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thoroughbred Lines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [half_sleeping](https://archiveofourown.org/users/half_sleeping/gifts).



> For Challenge #15 on BPS, half-sleeping's prompt of 'Teikou, Akashi bringing them horse-riding for team bonding'

On the day that Akashi announces that there is a team-building exercise arranged for the coming weekend, Oha Asa tells Midorima that he’s about to receive an unpleasant surprise. This, coupled with the ever-so-slightly smug look that Akashi sports once he arrives at school, Does Not Bode Well for Midorima’s peace of mind (or his loss-count in shogi).

Of course, Midorima doesn’t generally like Things that Do Not Bode Well. When those Things also involved Akashi Seijuurou, however… they deserve all the capitalisation and extra precautions he is able to take.

He just hopes that on Saturday, Cancer’s ranking is a little higher than it has been all week.

*

_Hello, this is the Oha Asa horoscope! Cancer’s ranking today is ninth. Your lucky item is a ring of keys!_

*

“You want us to  _ride_  those things?!”

Kise is the first one to address the elephant in the room, but Midorima is also thinking along those exact lines. They’re standing in the center aisle of a large, well-lit stable, huddled together in silent solidarity as Akashi discusses something with one of the grooms. He stops when Kise speaks and turns to them all with a smile.

“Of course,” he says serenely, and Midorima can feel the dread settle into his stomach. “I expect all of you to ride today. It would defeat the purpose of the team-building exercise if only some of the team participate.”

Aomine, at least, seems to like this idea. “Cool! Hey Tetsu, come on, we’ll get to be, like, knights or something— look, this one’s  _huge_ —”

“Aomine-kun, I don’t think you should be hitting the door like that.”

“Minechin, it looks angry.”

“Akashicchi! What if it throws me? What if I break a bone or my  _face_  or one of them bites me—”

Akashi clears his throat.

Midorima sighs. He jabs Kise in the ribs, which shuts him up pretty quickly, and a look in Aomine’s direction confirms that Kuroko has already distracted him from irritating one of the closest horses. Murasakibara has produced a bag of potato chips and is therefore quiet, though his silence is punctuated by munching and the crackle of the packet.

He must look resigned, and therefore like a willing participant, because Akashi turns his (frankly, terrifying) smile on Midorima next and says, “Midorima-kun, would you like to go first?”

There’s really nowhere to run, and Midorima can’t say he didn’t come prepared for the worst. So he shrugs and says, “Alright.”

Immediately, Akashi’s face lights up. “Very well. I’ve given instructions for a mount to be prepared for each of you. Suzuki-san, if you would?”

The groom from earlier comes over, leading a brown horse already bedecked in a saddle and bridle. Midorima suddenly finds himself standing alone save for Akashi, as the rest of the team backs up— Kuroko just gives him a mild look when he glances back, feeling slightly betrayed. Then, Akashi is making a ‘go-ahead’ gesture at the horse, and Midorima steels himself.

“Give her your hand, Midorima-kun. Suzuki-san will show you how to mount up.” Akashi looks genuinely pleased, happy to be sharing his hobby with them, so Midorima doesn’t complain. He offers the horse an open palm and clenches his other hand around today’s lucky item when she blows noisily at him.

Without his realising, Akashi has approached to lay a hand on the horse’s neck. “Excellent,” he says, and motions to Suzuki. “Come Midorima-kun, let us begin.”

Midorima swallows a little, and tries to listen intently as the man runs him through the mechanics of getting on the horse. He’s tall, he says, so there shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Left-handed? Then mount from the right, lengthen the stirrup, and lever yourself up. Simple.

Right.

“Make sure you don’t fall over the other side,” Aomine contributes helpfully, grinning at the sour look he gets.

“Cancer’s ranking today is higher than Virgo’s.” Midorima informs him, doing his best to remain impassive. He straps the helmet onto his head and tries not to show how little he’s looking forward to this endeavour. He sniffs at Aomine. “I would say you have your own problems to worry about, Aomine-kun.”

“It’s okay, Midorimacchi, you can do it!” Kise cheers, Kuroko nodding along. Akashi raises an eyebrow.

Enough stalling, then. It takes a moment for Midorima to figure out how to lengthen the stirrup, and another to manage to get his foot braced, since even at its longest, the stirrup is still uncomfortably high. Then he reaches to grip the saddle and gets on the horse.

In the process, Midorima comes to the conclusion that the term ‘mount up’ is rather incongruous. It should be more like ‘haul up’ or ‘hoist up’. It takes him a few tries (Aomine jeers. Kise spews worry and encouragement in equal amounts. Murasakibara offers Kuroko a potato chip.), but eventually Midorima sits ramrod straight in the saddle, fingers clenched tightly around the reins and the saddlehorn to hide how they’ve started to shake.

“Well done, Midorima-kun,” Akashi says, and Midorima can barely spare the presence of mind to nod. He hadn’t expected the ground to seem so far away, or to feel as unsteady as he did once he was actually on the horse’s back. It’s… more than a little daunting.

At this point, Akashi abandons him to turn and nod at another groom, after which four more horses are led forward. Midorima is clinging on to the saddlehorn for dear life as his horse shifts from one hoof to another, but he still fixes Kise’s terror and Kuroko’s look of dawning dread in his mind for future amusement.

Akashi claps his hand and  _smiles_. “Shall we proceed?”

He pauses.

“Murasakibara-kun, horses don’t eat potato chips.”

*

_You’re likely to go through a trying period today, but bear with it and you will find that it brings unexpected rewards! Next, for Aquarius in tenth place…  
_

*

Two hours later, Midorima likes to think that his seat on a horse has improved, at least a little.

He felt comfortable enough to release his death grip on the saddle twenty minutes into the ordeal, spurred by Aomine’s devil-may-care approach to riding. The jingling of his lucky item seemed to irritate his horse, but he’s since stuffed the keys deep into his pocket (hurriedly, so that he didn’t have to have even a single hand off the reins for too long) and it’s no longer an issue. So far, they’ve all had their first basic horse riding lesson, which predictably devolved into chaos after only ten minutes.

Midorima has figured out at least how to steer, so after watching Aomine somehow provoke his horse into bolting, he nudges his mare awkwardly into the spot beside Akashi and his black gelding.

“Was this—” He has to stop for a moment as his horse tosses her head and shifts in place, before continuing, a little rattled, “Was this what you had in mind when you decided to bring us here?”

‘This’ is Aomine pretending to be a cowboy on a bronco, much to the attending grooms’ dismay. It’s Kise bouncing along helplessly as the mare he’s riding breaks into a fast trot, with Kuroko just managing to keep up on his stout little pony (named, incongruously,  _Kamehameha_.). Murasakibara is yawning, his correspondingly large gelding cropping lazily at the sparse grass under the fence. Its reins are dragging forgotten on the ground, and Midorima really isn’t seeing the teamwork aspect of this.

Akashi’s mouth quirks a little, and for a brief moment Midorima imagines that the black horse’s tail swish is just an extension of its rider’s self-satisfaction.

“Not really,” he says, to Midorima’s surprise. “But it’s good to do things like this together every once in awhile. As a team. It will certainly improve on-court relations as much as it does the off-court.”

Midorima’s eyebrows knit. “Ah. Indeed. That isn’t something I would have expected of you, Akashi-kun.”

He gets a wry glance for that, before Akashi urges his gelding forwards to circle in front of Midorima. His horse snorts and backs up, Akashi’s gelding passing a little too close for comfort. Midorima ends up lurching forward to grab the saddle horn again, and when he turns to glare at Akashi, Akashi’s face is impassive.

“‘Expect the unexpected’, may be a worthwhile lesson to learn, I think,” he says, after Midorima has regained his seat. Then he changes the subject. “Do you know what your horse’s name is, Midorima-kun?”

“No?” Midorima hadn’t asked, nor does he follow Akashi’s train of thought. This isn’t unusual, however, and after a pause he simply decides to go with it.

The quirk to Akashi’s mouth is back. “Matcha,” he says. Then he tucks his heels into his horse’s side and wheels away, trotting comfortably to head off Aomine and his mount before they can decide to hurdle the paddock fence.

Midorima huffs a short laugh. “Matcha,” he repeats.

Matcha harrumphs and flicks him with her tail, as if in answer.


End file.
